I am 18 years old and I am determined to lose a few pounds and tone my body by the end of May. I just began running and I'm starting off by running a mile and hope to work up to a four-mile run four or five days a week. My diet is generally a bowl of cereal in the morning, and a turkey or ham sandwich with some type of fruit and a bottle of water. Dinner is something different every day, but usually healthy. I also have been doing an ab workout for about seven minutes after I run. Is what I'm doing effective? What are your suggestions?

I am a 29 year old woman. I am interested in increasing my muscle mass. Could you please tell me what steps to take in weight lifting as well as in changing my eating habits for a healthier diet?

I am a woman who has a family, full-time job, and a very busy life, generally.

Three years ago, I joined a local health club because I was not getting enough exercise. Since then, I have tried to work out three times a week. Every time I exercise on the treadmill, even though I am not running but only walking fast, I experience leg pain in the back of my calves. I have tried stretching to warm up but nothing seems to help. Do you have any suggestions? The pain in my calves is preventing me from increasing my speed and improving my conditioning. I would appreciate any suggestions you might have.

Can I run when I am pregnant?

After practicing yoga in normal temperatures for years, I recently attended a heated yoga class (heated quite hot: 95 to 100 degrees!). The experience left me dizzy, nauseous, and completely enervated. Afterwards, I expressed my concern to the teacher, asking why the studio needed to be so hot. She "explained" that by sweating, supposedly the body releases "toxins" and that my nausea and dizziness must indicate that I need to "detox." Personally, I think I was suffering from heat exhaustion. I've heard this silly explanation more than once, as many people seem to believe toxins are released through sweat. But is that true??? And — next question — doesn't exerting oneself in extremely hot temperatures seem like a recipe for dehydration? Are their any benefits that make it worthwhile, or is all this heated yoga just nonsense?

I have two questions:

(1) What are the benefits of jumping on a mini-trampoline?

(2) Are there any benefits to using a hula-hoop?

As you can probably see, I'm looking for exercises that are fun.

It's been about three months since I worked out regularly. I find that lifting for strength (i.e. 80% of max for 5-8 reps) causes me to feel nauseated about 3/4 through the workout sometimes, so that I can't bring myself to finish. I took a weight training course last semester and was affected the same way every once in a while. I warm up, stretch before and after, breath when I lift, drink plenty of water, take care not to eat 1 hour before working out, skip a day between workouts, don't lift more than I can handle (I reduced the weight from what I ended on in the class to a seemingly suitable weight. I got a 98 in the class incidentally). What's going on?

1) I work out on my treadmill 20 to 30 minutes a day, usually one to two miles. My husband says that there is a minimum and maximum heart rate. Is there a formula that I can use to calculate this information? Please advise.

2) Is there an equation that would relate the relationship between exercise and heart rate. I understand the maximum and minimum heart rate equations for exercising. I would like to know if someone who is at their max. heart rate would be able to predict their heart rate if they increased their intensity. I am looking for something relating work intensity to heart rate.

My trainer is getting annoyed because I am not experiencing soreness. I have been working out now with him and other trainers, three times a week, for three months now. Plus I do 45 minutes of cardio four times a week.

I think it's kind of odd that he bases his progress on how sore his clients are. I was always led to believe that soreness in muscles comes from working newfound muscle groups or aggressive workouts. During our workout I am feeling my muscles being worked and I have lost a number of inches and lbs since I have been working out. It seems to be a large issue with some of the trainers at this gym. I am wondering why! Also he had me doing 420 lbs on my legs. I am not a body builder nor do I want to be. I started to tone up. Advise please!

1) My husband is in an intensive training program to become a firefighter. He trains Monday – Friday. As a consequence, he is sore everyday. I know the best remedy for sore muscles is rest… but he doesn't get any. Is there anything else he can do?

2) I am an avid weightlifter. I want to know how to prevent muscle soreness, or flush out the lactic acid from my system. Thank you.

I am a wrestler and have very great ambitions within the sport. I lift weights for five to six hours a day, making sure I perform every set to failure often including negatives as well. In addition to working each muscle group two times a week, I make sure to give each muscle group 48 to 72 hours of rest. Recently though, I have learned that training longer than an hour a day can have a catabolic (muscle breakdown) effect on your body. This was very concerning to me because muscle-wasting during my training seems truly counter-productive, but I am also aware that a decrease in training may lead to muscle atrophy and that also poses a deep concern. I have also learned that cardio and even sleep can have a catabolic effect. I will have to cut my training time eventually due to time restrictions during the season because of school day and team practices, including traveling time and homework. I am posing a couple of questions within this letter: 1) Can I reduce the volume of my routine to about an hour and still make gains that are comparable or better to those I experience with my five to six hour workouts and if so, how? 2) Is catabolism truly a legitimate matter to be concerned with?

Hot yoga is becoming more popular every day but there is a lot of conflicting information regarding benefits versus injuries. Most of the information does not quote sources and is therefore is difficult to follow up on. It has unquestionably helped me become a more flexible person but there is a lot of information on the net regarding horrific injuries including slipped discs, muscle tears, neck injuries, emotional problems, and even strokes. Is there a research-based, or at least a factual breakdown on the health benefits of stretching at temperatures above body temperature versus the injury risk of exercising at temperatures above body temperature?

I'm an athlete, and about a year ago, I purchased one of those ab rollers. One time, I was going through the motions and I experienced an orgasm. Now, it happens about every time I use it. I thought it was extremely weird, but then read where women experience orgasms through lots of things. I was just wondering how it is possible for those feelings to happen just by working out my abs. Also, what are some other weird ways that women have had orgasms? Thanks so much.

I've been told that every two to three weeks, I need to change my weight training routine or else my body will become too accustomed to it and I will stop seeing results. Is it really necessary for me to change my entire routine, or do I only need to increase weight and/or repetitions?

Does exercise (i.e., weight lifting) increase testosterone levels?

I wanted to know how many days of rest is recommended between workouts. I heard it was three days on to one day off...is this enough? I workout on a treadmill for 50 minutes every day and have for the last 14 months. I was not aware of how rest played a very important role until I recently read a brief article on it. I guess my question is, do I need to take that day of rest and how important is it?

A friend of mine bought me a month's worth of yoga classes over the summer. I loved it! I've never found an exercise/fitness regimen that I actually WANTED to stick with. It helped with a lot of my long-standing physical issues (balance, back pain, stress, fatigue) and was a perfect balance of stretching and strengthening for my fitness goals. The only problem is that now that my month is over... I can't really afford to do it anymore. I've looked all around for inexpensive and conveniently located studios, but I can't find anything that's in my price range or fits in my schedule. What resources are there for broke aspiring yogis? Are there any guidelines for practicing yoga at home? Are there any exercise routines that are similar to yoga (i.e., low impact, stretching + strengthening) that are less expensive or easier to do without an instructor?

I'm curious to know if going to the gym increases sexual drive? I am a female in my 20s and recently started an exercise routine (running and weights), and I have noticed that my sexual drive has increased significantly. There have been no other major changes in my life, and I have been dating the same man for close to two years now, so I can think of no other real reason why my libido would have increased. Is there any real connection between working out in the gym and beneath the sheets?

I know there are video games out there now that require you to move more, unlike traditional video games. Are these games, like Wii Fit, a good way to be more active or are they doing more harm than good?